The Chronicles of William Wilde Boxset 1 Read online

  William didn’t wait to see what would emerge. Mr. Zeus and his rainbow bridge, or whatever it was, were too far away. The cabin was closer. William grabbed Serena’s hand and raced toward the lodge.

  They’d only taken three steps, running just past the edge of the meadow, when Serena pulled him to a halt. “The cabin won’t stop whatever that is,” she shouted.

  “No! Come back! This way!” Mr. Zeus called. “Hurry!”

  Something crashed out of the trees. William caught an impression of massive size, seven feet tall or more. Gigantic with misshapen features.

  “I have you now, boy,” the thing growled, staring hungrily at William. “I’ll feast upon you like I feasted upon your family.”

  William’s heart skipped. Inchoate questions rambled through his mind.

  “Hurry!” Mr. Zeus urged again.

  Daniel and Lien leapt upon the rainbow bridge and disappeared with a stretching, snapping image.

  William glanced back at the creature. It barreled toward him. No more time for questions. William and Serena raced toward Mr. Zeus.

  The creature, the monster, whatever it was, rumbled toward them, charging faster than anything that size should have been capable, faster than any person could. It smashed into the golden nimbus. The impact sounded like a window shattering. The beast flew backward, careening through the air before smashing into a tree and thudding to the ground. It quickly regained its feet.

  The golden nimbus had been thick as honey, but now it appeared pale and washed away.

  The creature laughed. “Your pitiful shield will not avail you.” It charged again.

  William and Serena were yards away from Mr. Zeus when the creature smashed once more into the golden nimbus. This time the barrier tore apart like a spider web and dissipated into the winter air.

  “Down!” Mr. Zeus cried.

  William and Serena ducked.

  A crackle of lightning sizzled across the distance from Mr. Zeus’ hands, lashing the monster.

  It screamed, a sound like tortured metal, but once more came horrid laughter. “Little asrasin. Your lightning feeds us. It doesn’t rend our being. For my kind, only blood washes away blood.

  The lightning faded. In its place came a gale. The creature nimbly side-stepped Mr. Zeus’ attack.

  William placed himself in front of Serena. The creature loomed only a few yards away.

  It sneered at them. “You’ve yet to ignite your lorethasra.” It sounded disappointed. “No matter. These other asrasins will do nicely in your place.” It lunged, moving too fast to dodge, and grabbed William by the throat.

  When its hand contacted William’s chain, the creature screamed, as if from deep pain.

  William cried out, too. His skin beneath the necklace burned as if on fire. Wetness seeped down his shirt. Blood.

  The beast snarled. A hard shove sent William tumbling through the air. His chain snapped, and he lost all sense of direction, until he crashed into Mr. Zeus.

  William rolled off the old man and leapt up with a groan. His locket lay at his feet, and unthinking, he stuffed it into his pants pocket.

  Jason raced toward the creature. From his hands burst a blaze of white-hot fire. William felt the heat all the way to where he stood. It would have set the creature alight, but no matter how quickly Jason cast his fire, the creature moved quicker. It evaded his attack and circled closer.

  “There’s no time to tether you,” Mr. Zeus said, his voice slurring. “I’ll hold him off.” He stumbled to his feet, almost falling over again.

  William wasn’t listening. Serena stood there, past the oak. Her face was set, as if she intended on attacking the creature herself. William ran to her side, unsure what he could do.

  “Grandfather! Go!” Jason shouted.

  Serena cried out and fell away from the monster. A line of blood trickled down her arm.

  William shot a quick look back. The rainbow bridge flickered.

  “You have to,” Jason continued. “The necrosed can’t cross the bridge.”

  “No!”

  “You must. It can’t get to Arylyn.”

  William glanced at Mr. Zeus whose face clouded with indecision before firming into an expression of frustrated fury and sorrow. “You stay alive!” Mr. Zeus shouted to Jason. His voice throbbed with pain and passion. “No matter the cost, I will bring you home.”

  William reached Serena’s side. The creature continued to dodge Jason’s fire. William heard a high-pitched whine. Mr. Zeus and the rainbow bridge were gone.

  “I’ll split your bones and drink your marrow,” the creature roared.

  Jason’s fire caught it full on its torso. It howled in anguish, stumbled, and fell flat, but managed to rise and dart away, too fast for Jason’s fire to set it alight again, though it ran more slowly than before.

  Jason shot another blaze at the monster. It dodged once, twice, three times. The fourth time, the flames blasted it head on.

  The creature screamed, and this time it retreated.

  “What the hell is that thing?” Serena sounded hysterical.

  A gale from Jason’s hands caught the creature flush and hurled it through the air. “Fire and wind won’t hold it forever,” Jason said. “We have to make a run for it.”

  “What about that bridge-thing Mr. Zeus made?” William asked.

  “It’ll take too long,” Jason said.

  “The Scout. I’ve got the keys,” William shouted. “Follow me!” He led them in a flat-out sprint, keys out and ready.

  Jason’s fire roared like an open blast furnace, but William didn’t dare look back. An instant later, the creature’s scream rang out again.

  Good!

  “I’ll kill you all,” the monster cried out.

  William unlocked the Scout, and all three of them tumbled into the vehicle. He gunned the engine and threw it into reverse.

  “Go! Go! Go!” Jason shouted.

  Through the windshield, William saw the creature. It had risen up and shambled toward them, gathering speed with every step.

  William slammed the Scout into first gear. He hit the gas and spun the steering wheel. Tires squealed, and with a stutter the vehicle began to move.

  Hurry up!

  “It’s coming!” Serena screamed.

  William glanced in the rearview mirror. The creature filled it, gaining steadily. William cursed and pressed the gas pedal to the floor. He plowed through the gears as fast as he could.

  A thump hit the Scout, and it shuddered and shook. The creature had slammed into the right rear-quarter panel, threatening to tip it over. The Scout tilted for a moment before banging back onto all four wheels. Miraculously, it remained pointed in the right direction.

  The creature roared.

  “He’s still there!” Jason shouted.

  William glanced in the rearview mirror again. The Scout was finally getting up to speed. The creature couldn’t keep up. It dwindled in the distance, shaking an impotent fist at them before loping into the woods.

  William breathed out a shuddering sigh of relief before punching the ceiling in triumph. “We did it!”

  Serena and Jason shared in his joy. They laughed, delirious at their survival.

  When their euphoria died down, Serena turned to face Jason. “You better tell me what’s going on,” she demanded. “What was that thing?”

  William kept his eyes forward, concentrating on the road, but he listened to what Jason had to say.

  “I don’t know,” Jason muttered. “I’m just glad we—”

  The long, gravel driveway took a right hand turn just before it intersected the old, country road. A warning siren went off in William’s mind.

  “You know exactly what that thing was,” Serena snapped. “Don’t pretend you don’t.”

  William noticed a disturbance in the trees. Something big was pushing through the forest. Something coming on fast, and headed toward the Scout. It would intersect them when they reached the right-hand turn.

  Fear c
lambered at William’s heart and his mouth went dry. “Hold on!” he shouted.

  Serena faced forward and must have seen the disturbance moving toward them. “Oh no,” she whispered.

  William never let off the gas. The creature raced out of the woods to their right. It burst from the foliage, angling closer. Parallel to them. Massive and terrifying.

  Time slowed.

  The monster grinned.

  William kept the pedal down. They hit the turn. The Scout wheel hopped. Tires squealed. The creature loomed closer and reached out. Closer.

  REVELATIONS

  The Scout slipped, right wheels lifting. William’s heart seized. They managed the turn, barely. Then all four tires were on the ground. The vehicle roared out onto the old country road, and they quickly outstripped the creature.

  It bellowed and roared in frustrated fury. This time when William glanced in the rearview mirror, the creature simply stood staring after them.

  “It’ll be back,” Jason muttered.

  “Talk,” Serena demanded of him.

  Out of the corner of his eye William noticed that, for once, Jason was the focus of her intense gaze. The observation didn’t bring him any relief. When she learned the truth, especially his part in it, she’d be pissed.

  “What was that thing?” Serena asked.

  William wanted to hear this as well. He glanced through the rearview mirror at Jason, who sat ashen-faced and quiet.

  “It’s called a necrosed,” Jason said. “It’s a creature of magic, dead and alive at the same time, and they kill. That’s all they do. There is no talking to them. No reasoning with them. No begging for mercy. We run if we ever see one.”

  “Exactly who is we?” Serena asked. “You and Mr. Zeus? How did you do that thing with the fire? And that bridge-thing Mr. Zeus created? Who are you?”

  “They’re magi,” William answered. He glanced at Jason, surprised that he could talk about magic.

  “I lifted Mr. Zeus’ collar. You can tell Serena all you want about us,” Jason said.

  “You know about this?” Serena accused William. Now he was the focus of her intensity, and as he’d figured, she was angry at him.

  “I only learned a few weeks ago over Thanksgiving,” William said, defensively. “I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone. Mr. Zeus did something to me so I couldn’t.”

  “What do you mean, he did something?” Serena demanded. She sounded more furious than scared.

  William kept his eyes on the road. “He cast a spell on me,” he explained, mentally wincing at how stupid it sounded when put like that.

  Serena scoffed. “A spell?”

  William chanced a glance in her direction. She glared at him, and he quickly returned his attention to the road. “That’s what happened. I couldn’t tell anyone what I knew. I couldn’t even write it down.”

  “Or maybe you just lied to me.”

  William’s irritation, fired up by his recent fear, stirred. “If you don’t want to believe me, that’s your problem.”

  “My problem is being lied to.”

  “And mine is that you can’t seem to understand simple English,” William snapped back.

  A tense silence fell over the Scout.

  “You’re saying Jason and Mr. Zeus are magi,” Serena said, eventually breaking the quiet.

  “So are Lien, Daniel, and their parents,” William said.

  “Right. Can’t forget that,” Serena jeered. “I guess that makes all of you wizards or something.”

  “We’re magi,” Jason corrected. “The plural of magus.”

  Serena gave him a hard stare.

  “Wizards are something else,” Jason said. “So are witches. We’re different from them.”

  “Fine. You’re magi,” Serena said. “And this monster that attacked us, this necrosed, is like a magical Terminator.”

  “Pretty much,” Jason agreed.

  William glanced again at Serena again. She didn’t seem quite as angry. He took it as a good sign.

  “It seemed to know me,” he said, speaking softly. “It talked about my parents. It talked about killing them.”

  Serena’s angry expression softened. “I’m sure it was just saying that to make you—”

  “It killed your family,” Jason broke in. “It wouldn’t have said it if it wasn’t true.”

  “I thought you said no one knew anything about these things,” Serena said.

  “We know some,” Jason said.

  “Then why do you think it was telling the truth about my family?” William asked.

  “When we first saw you in the hospital after the accident there was a smell on you, like spoiled meat. Mr. Zeus and I didn’t think much about it. We thought it must have been the air in the hospital or something to do with the accident. But it was the necrosed. They’re animated corpses. Rotting flesh. Some of its stink lingered on you.”

  “A zombie Terminator,” Serena muttered.

  “You think that thing really killed my family?” William asked. Even as he spoke the words, uncertainty gave way to surety. He recalled his dreams of the accident, the brutal figure watching in silence from a nearby embankment, menace and cruelty pouring off it like a miasma. His lipless mouth, gorilla arms, and massive size. It had been the necrosed.

  William’s anger flared to fury and his fingers tightened on the steering wheel. He had trouble concentrating. His family was dead because of that abomination. “Why did it kill them?” he asked through clenched teeth.

  “Who knows?” Jason replied. “The necrosed use the flesh of others to maintain themselves, but to thrive they require the lorethasra of an asrasin. Maybe it was on the hunt and was attracted to you because of your potential as an asrasin.” He shrugged. “I don’t know why it didn’t kill you, though. Maybe it was hoping you’d come into your power and it could kill you then.”

  Son of a bitch! “That thing dies,” William vowed. “I don’t care what it takes.”

  “How long has it been watching William?” Serena asked. Her prior outrage at being deceived seemed to have dissipated.

  “Since it left him alive,” Jason answered, “probably since last winter, after it killed his parents and his brother.”

  William shot a glare at Jason. “You knew nothing about it?”

  “Believe me, if any of us had known a necrosed was stalking you, all of us, including me, Mr. Zeus, and the Karllsons, would have immediately evacuated to Arylyn.”

  William grunted acknowledgment. “What else do you know about these necrosed? What are their weaknesses?”

  “They don’t have any. Only a holder—think of them as monster hunters—can kill one, but they all died out a long time ago,” Jason said. “Once a necrosed has a target, it won’t stop until it kills it. Almost everyone who has fought one ends up dead. The only way to survive it is to escape to my home.”

  “Your house in Cincinnati?” Serena asked, sounding confused.

  “No. The place I come from. Arylyn. It’s an island. It’s where Mr. Zeus, Daniel, and Lien went on that rainbow bridge.”

  “They’re okay?” William asked.

  “Better than we are.”

  “Where is this island?” Serena asked.

  “I can’t tell you,” Jason replied. “I’m not allowed.”

  The Scout grew quiet again, and for the first time, William noticed a niggling sensation in the back of his mind. He’d been too scared before to pay it any attention, but now that the immediate danger was past he could feel it more clearly, like a bug crawling on his skin.

  He feared what it meant and wiped sweaty palms on his pants. “What does it mean if I can feel him?”

  “Feel who?” Jason asked.

  “It. Him. Whatever. I can feel him. I can feel the necrosed. I even know his name.”

  Jason leaned forward and eyed him in uncertainty. “You sure about this?”

  William nodded. “He’s a male. I can even tell where he’s going. I can almost feel his emotions.”

  Jason
sat back with brows furrowed as he stared out the window. “I don’t know what that means,” he finally said. “I don’t know much about the necrosed. No one does. I’ve never heard of someone feeling anything from one of them.” William caught a worried look from Jason. “You really know his name?”

  William nodded. “Kohl Obsidian. And he’s coming after me.”

  The winter breeze carried the cheery scent of smoke from a fireplace, along with a wetness that tasted of a pending snowfall. Another gust of wind blew, and William shivered. The breeze bit hard, and he hoped whoever was enjoying the fireplace was warmer than he was. His numbed fingers, stiff as frozen sausages, could barely work the gas pump as he fed fuel into the bottomless maw of the Scout’s tank.

  They’d had to stop in a small village in Ohio, a place named Rio Grande. Rolling hills and farms gave it a picturesque beauty, but it was most famous for being the home of the Bob Evans Farm. The billboards lining the road said so but William didn’t care, not about Rio Grande’s history or the village’s beauty. He might have once—he did love Bob Evans—but not now. Not with a zombie Terminator out to kill him.

  “Can you still tell where the necrosed is?” Jason asked.

  An old pickup interrupted William’s answer as it rumbled to life and sputtered away in a cloud of gray smoke. Other than the Scout, the gas station now stood empty and only occasional traffic traveled the nearby state highway.

  “He’s behind us,” William replied. “I can’t tell much more than that. I don’t know if he’s even moved off that saha’asra.”

  Jason muttered under his breath before glancing at the gas station. “What’s taking Serena so long?”

  They stared through the windows of the gas station, but she was nowhere to be seen. The only people visible inside were a skinny, teenage girl standing behind the counter chatting with a husky boy.

  “I think she’s calling her dad on the pay phone inside,” William said. “She also wanted to clean off the cut on her arm.”

  “She’s using the gas station bathroom?” Jason asked in obvious shock. “Why didn’t you warn her?”